Fauci says US facing ‘full brunt’ of Thanksgiving Covid surge at Christmas when people ‘travel, shop, and congregate’
DOCTOR Anthony Fauci said the US is facing the “full brunt” of a Thanksgiving Covid-19 surge in the run up to Christmas as people travel, shop, and congregate.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert alerted the public of a looming uptick in coronavirus cases in the next two to three weeks as people prep for the holidays and celebrate with loved ones.
During his appearance on the Today Show, Fauci said: “May be a little bit of blip, right now, but we don’t expect to see the full brunt of it between two and three weeks following Thanksgiving.”
“I think we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak,” he told host Savannah Guthrie.
“That’s the concerning thing because the numbers in and of themselves are alarming, and then you realize that it is likely we’ll see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday.”
Fauci’s grim prediction comes as the United States alone battles more than 14,102,568 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The total number of virus-related deaths across the country has reached 275,729.
Fauci added: “The thing that concerns me is that abuts right on the Christmas holiday as people start to travel and shop and congregate.
“So that’s the reason why we plead with them to please, as best as you can, uniform wearing of masks, keep distances to the best possible way you can, avoid crowds in congregate settings, particularly indoors.
“And if you are indoors in that circumstance, always wear your mask.”
On Thursday, the number of Covid-related deaths hit a new daily record of 2,802, according to NBC News.
The news outlet also revealed that Thursday, December 4, marked the third straight day Covid-19 deaths totaled to more than 2,000.
On Wednesday, there were a record 2,885 Covid related deaths, more than 100,000 patients hospitalized with the virus across the US and 200,000 new cases.
The disease expert stressed that the US is in a “very precarious situation right now.”
Though Fauci said there was “a light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine,” he noted that “we’re not there yet.”
A vaccine, developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, is not scheduled to be considered by The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until December 10.
When Fauci was questioned on the FDA’s delay in approving a Covid vaccine in America, he said: “What our FDA does is that they scrutinize every single bit of the data themselves.
The thing that concerns me is that abuts right on the Christmas holiday as people start to travel and shop and congregate.
Anthony Fauci
“They don’t just take the word of the company that this is the way it is. They act like they’re really a reviewer for a journal.
“That’s just the way they do it. I’m not saying it’s better, I’m not saying it’s worse, it’s just different.
“But we are, and I won’t back down on this, the FDA of the United States is the gold standard for regulatory, looking at things like drugs and devices and vaccines, there’s no question about that.”
Meanwhile, Fauci also agreed to be President-elect Joe Biden’s medical adviser “on the spot,” adding that people across the US may still need masks after the Biden’s first 100 days rule.
Fauci was asked on Thursday if he would be Biden’s medical adviser when he met with the President-elect’s transition time.
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He recounted on the show: “Oh, absolutely. I said ‘yes’ right on the spot, yeah.”
Biden confirmed in a CNN interview on Thursday, that he requested Fauci stay “in the exact same role he’s had for the last several presidents.”
Fauci also agreed to Biden’s idea to ask all Americans to wear a face mask for his first 100 days in office.